Big planes boost airport passenger figures

Bigger aircraft are boosting passenger numbers at the world’s larger airports. This trend has ensured that the number of passengers using London Heathrow, for example, grew by more than two million last year.

Heathrow handled 72.3 million people in 2013, a figure helped by the use of larger aircraft like the Airbus A380. These overcame the lack of spare take-off and landing slots at the airport.

Passengers spent an average £6.37 (€7.73) in its shops and restaurants, compared with £6.21 the previous year, boosting revenues by 11% to £2.47 billion.

Heathrow Airport Holdings, the parent company, recorded pre-tax profits of £426 million, which included £292 million from the sale of Stansted airport to the Manchester Airports Group.

However, Heathrow’s plans for a third runway have been dealt a blow by a report from the University of Southampton, which said that noise was affecting up to a million people around the airport – four times the official estimate.

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